Plame Testifies Before Congress:Confirms She Was Covert

Republican's questioning disgusting
Another example of Republican bottom feeding is being exhibited in the Plame hearing. The Republican questioners continued to dispute Plame's covert classification. Have they no shame---or even smarts to move beyond the talking points issued by Karl Rove to defend the White House's law breaking?

BBB

What I want to know is--- where is Tico?

'Lives are literally at stake'

Waxman sends letter to White House demanding explanation on lack of leak investigation RAW STORY
Published: Friday March 16, 2007

The Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) today sent a letter to White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten requiring an explanation of a stunning admission by a White House official that no internal investigation was launched following the leak of classified information. The admission was made during a hearing on the outing of former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.

In the letter, Waxman stated that if the statements made by James Knodell, Director of the Office of Security at the White House, are accurate, the White House violated its own national security requirements.

"The testimony of Mr. Knodell appears to describe White House decisions that were inconsistent with the directives of Executive Order 12958, which you signed in March 2003," wrote Waxman. "Under this executive order, the White House is required to "take appropriate and prompt corrective action" whenever there is a release of classified information. Yet Mr. Knodell could describe no such actions after the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity."

The letter went on to demand a complete account from Bolten on the steps the White House took to investigate the leak and hold those responsible for the leak accountable.

Following is the letter in its entirety:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Waxman_sends_letter_to_White_House_0316.html

Bush Adm. never investigated Plame leak
White House Security Chief Reveals - No Probe of Plame Leak There
Editor and Publisher
Friday 16 March 2007

Dr. James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House, told a congressional committee today that he was aware of no internal investigation or report into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame.

The White House had first opposed Knodell testifying but after a threat of a subpoena from the committee yesterday he was allowed to appear today.

Knodell has testified that those who had participated in the leaking of classified information were required to attest to this and he was aware that no one, including Karl Rove, had done that.

He said that he had started at the White House in August 2004, a year after the leak, but his records show no evidence of a probe or report there: "I have no knowledge of any investigation in my office," he said.

Rep. Waxman recalled that President Bush had promised a full internal probe. Knodell repeated that no probe took place, as far as he knew, and was not happening today.

Knodell said he had "no" conversations whatsoever with the president, vice president, Karl Rove or anyone about the leak.

Asked by chairman Rep. Henry Waxman if he knew this was an issue of concern, he said "yes." Asked if he learned this from the White House or the press, he said, "through the press."

Rep. Elijah Cummings said all of this was "shocking." Waxman said that Knodell's office's lack of action was a "breach within a breach." Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton called this a "dereliction of duty."

Knodell, who is a career employee and not a Bush appointee, said he would go back and "review this with senior management." He admitted that leaking classified information called for action, whether the leak was accidental or on purpose.

Democrats challenged his assertion that no probe was necessary since a criminal investigation was underway. They said that the criminal probe was narrowly focused, started well after the leak - during which the White House apparently did nothing - and that in any case, the White House was required to carry out its own probe and deny security clearances to anyone who had leaked classified information.

They demanded to know why Rove's security clearance had not been revoked.

Rep. Waxman at one point said that he regretted not being able to put up a video of the president promising a full probe but added, "I guess we will leave that to The Daily Show."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Editor's Note: Today, Representative Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to explain why the White House failed to conduct any investigation following the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's covert CIA employment. The letter follows the testimony of James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House. Knodell stated that the White House security office did not follow the investigative steps prescribed by Executive Order 12958. - TO/vh

Text of the Letter Follows:

March 16, 2007

The Honorable Joshua Bolten
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. Bolten:

Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to examine the disclosure by senior White House officials of the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. The hearing raised many new questions about the how the White House responded to an extraordinarily serious breach of national security. It also raised new concerns about whether the security practices being followed by the White House are sufficient to protect our nation's most sensitive secrets.

James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House, testified at the hearing about White House procedures for safeguarding classified information. During his testimony, Mr. Knodell made some remarkable statements about how his office handled the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's covert status. Specifically, Mr. Knodell testified:

The Office of Security for the White House never conducted any investigation of the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity.


Under the applicable executive order and regulations, your senior political adviser, Karl Rove, and other senior White House officials were required to report what they knew about the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity, but they did not make any such report to the White House Office of Security.


There has been no suspension of security clearances or any other administrative sanction for Mr. Rove and other White House officials involved in the disclosure.
According to Mr. Knodell, the explanation for the lack of action by the White House security office was a White House decision not to conduct a security investigation while a criminal investigation was pending. Mr. Knodell could not explain, however, why the White House did not initiate an investigation after the security breach. It took months before a criminal investigation was initiated, yet, according to Mr. Knodell, there was no White House investigation initiated during this period.

Mr. Knodell also testified that it would be inappropriate to allow an individual who was a security risk to retain his or her security clearance while a criminal investigation is pending. As members of the committee pointed out, a criminal investigation can last years, and it would jeopardize national security not to investigate the officials implicated in the leak and suspend their security clearances if there were reason to suspect their involvement. Mr. Knodell did not dispute this point.

The testimony of Mr. Knodell appears to describe White House decisions that were inconsistent with the directives of Executive Order 12958, which you signed in March 2003. Under this executive order, the White House is required to "take appropriate and prompt corrective action" whenever there is a release of classified information. Yet Mr. Knodell could describe no such actions after the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity.

Taken as a whole, the testimony at today's hearing described breach after breach of national security requirements at the White House. The first breach was the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity. Other breaches included the failure of Mr. Rove and other officials to report their disclosures as required by law, the failure of the White House to initiate the prompt investigation required by the executive order, and the failure of the White House to suspend the security clearances of the implicated officials.

To assist the Committee in its investigation into these issues, I request that you provide the Committee with a complete account of the steps that the White House took following the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity (1) to investigate how the leak occurred; (2) to review the security clearances of the White House officials implicated in the leak; (3) to impose administrative or disciplinary sanctions on the officials involved in the leak; and (4) to review and revise existing White House security procedures to prevent future breaches of national security.

I look forward to your response and hope you will cooperate with the committee's inquiry.

Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Chairman

cc: Tom Davis
Ranking Minority Member

The plot thickens.

One of more amusing aspects of this has been that the attack dog the conservatives used to try to make Wilson and Plame a mockery is Anne Coulter. For the past year or so, all we seem to see on TV newschannels is Coulter vociferously running down Wilson and Plame's competence, trying to make them look like chumps every inch of the way.

Now, one of the reasons Coulter has come to the forefront of the conservative Republicans is her looks. A tall, slender, woman with a wild shock of luxurious blonde hair and a miniskirt, she makes a striking spokesperson for a party that would otherwise be represented in by chubby middle-aged and older guys in Navy blue suits. That's how she has able up to now to get away with the things she says-everything about her communicates"free spirit".

Now the spotlight switches to Plame. Uh oh. Plame is beautiful. She really is. The people looking at Plame up there are going to think well of her, and be very inclined to believe her when she says she was covert and was hurt by the revelation. It's unfortunate that looks still play a big part in the public's evaluation of what is right and wrong, but with both sides having well-oiled PR machines, sometimes it comes to that. Who does the public LIKE?

The public is going to see an attractive but somewhat shrewish sounding Anne Coulter and a real babe in Plame, and they are going to like Plame a lot more, despite all the stuff being thrown at her.

Sorry to introduce looks into a discussion, but I do think it is going to matter in the public's reaction to this.

Plame no doubt is a babe...and she was very believable in her testimony.

I don't however draw a connection between Coulter, Plame, their looks and the outcome of her case.

Not to be technical, but the legal case is over. What we have not are congressional hearings, ostensibly to get information for future legislation.

Whether these lead to additional legal cases from the info that comes out of these hearings remains to be seen.

I just think right now it has to do with convincing the public. A significant percentage of the public thinks what happened to Wilson and Plame is no big deal. This might well change that perception, and shallow as it sounds, the physical looks of the people involved might well have a lot to do with that.

This is typical spin of the Democrats machines endless investigations and hearings into anything and everything except themselves of course. Contrary to the beginning of this thread, Waxman's kangeroo court did not establish that Plame was a covert agent, as defined by the law. Plame herself said she wasn't a lawyer and didn't know what her legal status was but said it shouldn't have mattered to the officials who learned her identity. So she admitted she did not know what her status was as defined by the law. The proof she is not covert is the fact that Fitzgerald has not, and apparently has no intention of prosecuting anyone for outing her.

Another point, she is now claiming she did not recommend her husband for the trip, which defies what happened, if we go back and look at the events.

Third, Joseph Wilson had no experience doing intelligence work, and if his wife was truly covert, he had no business doing what he did, and becoming a a high profile political operative. He bears much of the responsibility in outing his own wife.

If the CIA truly had her classified as covert, how come the CIA itself confirmed her identity to Novak?

Last but not least, if the outing was a crime, how come Richard Armitage skates?

This was political, and is still political, thanks to Waxman's kangaroo court.

Leave it to okie to jump in headfirst and keep his head under water.

I agree with Rep. Tom Davis, the ranking Republican on the committee, when he said, "No process can be adopted to protect classified information that no one knows is classified. This looks to me more like a CIA problem than a White House problem."

It is a problem when the CIA sends a political operative like Wilson on this trip, does not require him to sign a confidentiality agreement for "intelligence work," and then wonders why the guy comes back and becomes a loose cannon shooting off his mouth over an issue that he is not an authority on. Remember, he does not work for the CIA. If his wife was truly a covert agent, they should never have allowed this to happen.

I agree with Cheney's apparent reaction, who is this guy and who does he think he is, and how come he went to Niger? Who recommended him?

Bull crap, none of that justifies the administrations actions concerning Valerie Wilson.

You guys always look for a fall guy, preferably on the other side but you will even take lesser important people on your own side.

Now that it is out there for once and for all that she was covert, you all's line of defense is to blame the CIA. They may share some blame, but so does the administration. Every one who was involved should have their security clearances cut off for talking about classified information. They should have erred on the side of caution as the better course of action to stay the very least.

If Clinton/Gore had outed Plame the Bushies would be screaming bloody murder. Clinton/Gore would be asccused of a serious breach of national security. Treason that left America without a real intelligence branch in Iran just when we could use one. And the Bushies would be right. This was a dangerous betrayal and defending it is a dangerous betrayal also.

Political for who? He worked for Reagan! He was an ambassador.
He had been to Niger-how many people have? Why shouldn't he go to check out a report?



What loose cannon? The President made statements which Wilson knew to be untrue and he said so. The loose cannons got unleashed when the Bush administration decided to get even with him for telling the truth.




She did not even suggest his name. That was done by somebody else!

Once again, how many Americans with experience in government have been to Niger?

I think this hearing will show more about the ineptness of the CIA than anything else. The CIA sends a diplomat to do some work, then when the diplomat comes back, he is somehow an authority on everything there is to know about WMD dealings between Niger and Iraq, apparently including everything the CIA knows as well. Some questions come to mind. Is that truly everything the CIA knows about that issue, what Wilson found out sipping tea in Niger. If that is the case, then what had Valerie Plame been doing for years? No wonder we have people saying the CIA is failing us, and that you cannot do good intelligence work solely from satellites. Another possibility here, is that Wilson may feel that he knows not only what he found out, but what his wife thought she knew as well, which brings up another question, is she allowed to divulge secret intelligence to non-authorized people, inluding her husband? Did she do that? Lots of good reasons why Fitzgerald should have put Joseph Wilson under oath.

As the Republican congressman points out, this hearing is an exercise in futility, and will not accomplish a whole lot. It is clearly a kangaroo court that cannot delve into the real heart of the issue for security reasons, so what is the point? The point is for Waxman to attack the administration, thats all it is.

Valerie Wilson said her work was not common knowledge on the cocktail circuit. That spawns a question. Does that mean it was uncommon knowledge? Now she is attempting to write a book. Doesn't sound like a person that cares much about protecting the CIA in my opinion.

Cheney, Rove, et al put Plame's name into public circulation in retaliation for Wilson's saying the Niger nuclear story was false. It was a political attack that disregarded national security.

You see anything wrong with that, okie? You hold anyone liable for that?

Hi snood, how are you? I admit I have been jazzed about this case, very interested in it, and sticking my neck out about this, and I have been for a long time, but I see it as nothing more than criminalizing politics. The CIA has made a big mistake by bringing politics into this, and that happened when they sent Wilson to Niger.

To answer your question, I think it is wrong if it was a retaliation only, and if Wilson was putting out accurate information, and if the administration knew she was covert, and if they were the only ones and first ones that knew her identity. But I don't think the above "ifs" apply in this case.

We are talking about a specific law here that this is supposed to address. If that law was broken, I believe Fitzgerald would have prosecuted if the law was broken. Since he is not, we are to assume it wasn't, so we are left with nothing more than a political issue here.

First of all, I do not believe it was retaliation. It was simply an effort to set the record straight and reveal how Wilson came about to go to Niger, and therefore to understand where he was coming from in terms of what his political vendetta was all about. His motives needed some explanation, otherwise it made no sense.

Secondly, how was Wilson suddenly an expert on everything the CIA knew about this. After all, the president has a CIA that he should rely on, not Joseph Wilson. What right or authority does Joseph Wilson have in this? Therefore, how he came by taking the trip to Niger is all very pertinent. He made it pertinent with his political vendetta as a political operative.

Also, there is no evidence the administration knew or thought that Plame was covert. And finally, they were not the first ones to divulge her identity. None of this meets the test of any law being broken. It is all political. And Joseph Wilson started it, so blame should go where blame belongs. The CIA handled this badly by getting Joseph Wilson involved, and the CIA itself even confirmed her identity to Novak. The CIA has some things to answer about this. And Fitzgerald has accomplished nothing except to convict a man for lying about a crime that apparently never occurred.

Please note how Okie keeps referring to Ambassador Wilson as "a political operative". Such as in the following.



Reading Okie's posts, you would think that before going to Niger to check out the uranium story, Wilson was running around with a camera hoping to catch a hooker leaving a Republican's house.


Here is the REAL story of Ambassador Joseph Wilson. (Granted the Wikipedia can be changed, so anyone with a different bio is welcome to post it.)




Clearly, Wilson is a career diplomat, not the "operative" Okie is working so hard to present Wilson as.

As for the rest of Okie's questions, draw your own conclusions. I think it is clear that Okie has decided that if enough readers get sidetracked answering his barrage of questions, people will forget that this venal Administration got so caught up in "getting even" politically with a critic, they were willing to expose a covert CIA agent to do it. And figure they could "spin" the crime away later.

As well they yet may - at least, those who are so willing to be 'spun'.

They're spinning is working on smaller groups as each new example of this administrations willingness to use any means for pushing they're agendas forwards gets exposed. I only wish the majority of the american public didn't give the administration the benefit of a doubt as long as they did. They should have caught on a lot earlier, at least before electing them in office a second term.